Dawn Falls Upon Us
by Tina Susanne Johansson
Summary: The Biohazard team lead by Doctor Danial Cassian, comes in clsoe contact with one of the deadliest diseases in the world when Edward Marcase falls in love.
1. Chapter 1

Dedicated to Mr. Jeffrey Dean Morgan

- For inspiring me to write the story in the first place.

Doctor Edward Marcase left the airport with a mixed feeling of fulfillment and utter restlessness. Cassian had sent him to Puerto Rico to help out on an investigation regarding the death of two American doctors who had been on some kind of fieldtrip, collecting samples of deadly diseases.

His job had been to gather all the samples in a safe manner, getting them ready for transport home and the job had been so easy he hadn't even broken a sweat.

And now he was back home and the feeling of fulfillment disappeared as soon as he got out into the open. It was raining, actually, it was poring down and the Nations capital was showing itself from its worst side.

As he walked to his car he couldn't quite figure out what had changed about it. Then suddenly he knew. When he'd parked the Caddy there eight days ago, he had left the top down, in blind faith to the Washington summertime weather. Now the top was up. When he leaned down and looked in through the passenger-side window, Michael smiled at him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he got in.

Michael smiled again.

"I figured you might need some cheering up, coming home to this."

"And you have taken it upon your shoulders to do so?"

Edward looked at Michael:  
"I appreciate it, but all I wanna do, is go home and go to bed."

Michael looked at him.

"No way. This is the first time I've ever heard you talk about bed after a fieldtrip. You really need some R&R. Besides, I got the wheel, I call the shots."

As Michael started the car, Edward leaned back in the seat. No point in arguing he thought. And somewhere deep down he didn't really want to anyway.

Michael had brought Edward to a small club he had only recently discovered himself. The guests were a mix of the people who worked in the capital, as well as lived there, lawyers, lobbyists, doctors, nurses and secretaries. Every group was represented which was rare in Washington.

Michael had gotten them a couple of seats in a booth near a small stage. When he looked at his watch for the third time, Edward leaned over to him:   
"Is there somewhere else you have to be?"

Michael shook his head.

"No, I'm quite sure I'm in the right place. But she's not here."

"She? She who?"

Edward was about to get up saying something to Michael but the sound of his voice drowned in a sudden applause from the audience, followed by the soft sound from an old piano. Edward sat back down and turned his head to look at the stage.

His eyes met the eyes of a young woman. She was sitting on a stool next to the piano; in her hands she had a microphone. Edward couldn't take his eyes of her. She had dark-blond hair and the curls surrounded her face like a frame. It was obvious she liked colors. Her dress was red and the shawl over her shoulders was in a changing orange color. When she started singing, Edward couldn't do anything but let her sweep him of his feet. Michael smiled when he saw the anticipated effect reach Edwards face. He'd been right. She was exactly his type.

The performance lasted an hour then the young woman took a bow and walked from the stage to the bar. As far as Edward could see, the bartender poured her a glass of water.

"Excuse me."

Edward didn't even hear Michaels excuse, he didn't react until he got up.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Wait and see."

Michael was even more secretive than usual.

At first Edward thought Michael was just getting them another drink, but when he stopped to talk to the singer, he began to realize what was going on. And when Michael pointed towards him and the woman turned to follow his finger, Edward was actually able to mount a smile.

Then they started walking to the table and Edwards' heart froze.

"Edward, I'd like you to meet Danielle Campbell. Danielle, meet my friend Edward Marcase."

She stretched out her hand and he shook it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you doctor Marcase. Michael's told me all about you."

Edward stared at her.

"You know Michael?"

She nodded.

"It's not a long-term friendship if that's what you mean. We met here a week ago."

"Really?"

Edward looked at Michael with a smile.

"That sounds terribly interesting."

Danielle looked from Edward to Michael and back again.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Edward said and looked at Michael.

After a second's hesitance, he nodded.

"Of course I do."

He turned to Danielle.

"I'll see you soon."

Then he left.

Edward bid Danielle to sit down.

"Sorry about that," he said:

"It was kind of a private joke."

Danielle smiled.  
"I thought so."

They sat for a moment in silence. Edward spent the seconds absorbing every detail of her face.

"What?" she suddenly said and Edwards' eyes focused on hers immediately.

"I'm sorry," he said and smiled:  
"I'm just trying to figure out why Michael suddenly felt an urge to throw a woman into my lap?"

Danielles smile faded.

"This was obviously a mistake. Goodbye doctor Marcase."

She was about to get up when Edward put his hand on hers.

"Would you let me finish? I was just about to compliment Michael on his great taste."

Danielle sat back down.

"You're not just saying that to avoid me making a scene?"

Edward laughed.

"I guess Michael failed to tell you that I'm a sucker for scenes. In fact, I'm quite good at creating scenes myself."

Now it was Danielle's turn to laugh.

For a second she just looked at him, smiling.

"Now what?" she asked.

Edward reached into his pocket and pulled out a card and a pen. While writing he said:

"To tell you the truth, all I can think of right now, is getting some sleep. I haven't slept in over 36 hours. But - I would like to see you again."

He looked her into the eyes, then he handed her the card.

"Meet me at this place tomorrow. We'll have dinner and see what happens, okay?"

She nodded.

"Okay," she whispered.

As he got up and put on his jacket, Edward looked at her again.

"Once again, I'm sorry, but I do need some sleep."

She smiled.

"It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow night."

Edward stood hesitant for one more minute, but when she smiled back at him, he finally found the strength, the courage or whatever, to leave the club. Her smile told him that she would surely turn up tomorrow. He was going to see her again.

Danielle walked home from the club that evening. It wasn't something she usually did, she had quite a long way home, but tonight she felt like she was floating on a cloud.

He was really nice.

A Yellow cab pulled up to the curve and Danielle got out. She paid the cabdriver and turned around. El Grande was the only Mexican restaurant in Washington that was actually run by Mexicans. She remembered an article she had read in the newspaper about the family business that employed three generations of immigrants. She stepped inside where she was received with a smile from a forty-something Mexican man.

"Good evening senorita, do you have reservations?"

"I'm not sure," Danielle answered:  
"I'm supposed to meet someone here."

Her eyes searched the restaurant. She froze when her eyes met Edwards across the room. The waiter followed her glance and smiled.

"Oh, you're meeting Doctor Marcase. He is a very lucky man."

He smiled at her.

"Follow me please."

She followed him to the table where Edward got up to greet her.

"Hi," he said.

Somehow it was all he could think of to say. He noticed that she was dressed in red again, this time a darker red in a tight fitting long dress with long sleeves. She didn't wear any jewelry and still she outshined every woman in the restaurant. At least Edward thought she did.

He held her chair as she sat down and then he sat down opposite her. The waiter looked at them.

"What would you like to drink?"

Edward looked at Danielle.

"What are you drinking?"

She smiled.

"Icewater would be fine."

Edward looked at the waiter.

"Icewater for the lady and I'll have a beer."

"Any particular brand senor?"

Edward shook his head.

"Just make sure it's Mexican."

The waiter left them.

Edward looked at Danielle.

"Icewater huh? For the voice?"

Danielle smiled.

"I just drink a lot of water."

She looked at Edward for a second.

"Michael told me you're a doctor. What's your area of expertise?"

For a second or two, Edward thought about lying. He had done it before to avoid scaring the attractive women away. But he didn't want to lie to Danielle. He wanted to be able to tell her everything.

"I'm a virologist," he suddenly said.

Danielle looked at him very calm. There was no air of fear in her eyes.

"Really? That means you work with viruses, right?"

Edward nodded:  
"That's right."

And then a little white lie slipped its way into the conversation:  
"But it's mostly the flu virus I have been working with."

He smiled at her.

"Enough about me. What about you? Have you always been a singer?"

To Edwards' surprise she shook her head.

"Actually I've only been a singer for 10 days. I quit my other job two weeks ago."

"What did you do in this other job?"

She smiled.

"I managed a medical archive for a big, private corporation."

"A medical archive? Then our lines of work were almost related. Why did you quit?"

"I got tired of all the secrecy concerning the archive. I wasn't even allowed to know what were in the files."

Edward smiled.

"Scientific research notes no doubt."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"What's your educational background? Were you trained as a secretary?"

Danielle shook her head.

"Not exactly."

"What then?"

She looked at him.

"I'm not sure I want to tell you. You'll laugh."

Edward sent her his most winning smile.

"Me, laugh? Never."

She hesitated for a second, then she looked straight at him.

"I'm a librarian."

She couldn't quite figure out what reaction she saw in Edwards' face, then he smiled a smile that brought her to her knees.

"I'm sorry," he laughed:  
"I know I promised."

He looked at her.

"It's just that I can't see you as a librarian. To me librarians are middle-aged women with thick glasses and hair pulled back into tight buns."

Danielle leaned forward.

"I was actually accepted at school to change that perception. They didn't even look at my high school scores."

She smiled and Edward smiled back.

"That was very good. You probably heard my argument before then?"

Danielle nodded.

"Sorry," she said, still smiling:  
"Maybe it's of consolation to you to know that I've always started a discussion about it. Always until now that is."

Edward smiled.

"Well, I'm honored. Does it mean something?"

"It means you're the first person not to make me furious by making that remark."

Edward smiled. The evening seemed destined to go well. As far as he could see, nothing could go wrong.

While they ate their dinner, they talked about family. Edward learned that Danielle's parents had been killed in a car crash when she was 18. She had no family left, except for an uncle in Canada, whom she never spoke to. Edward told her that his parents were dead as well, but he left out the Ebola part. No reason to go into that now. He wanted to see how the evening went before he went off the deep end and told her everything.

Then they talked about their homes. Danielle lived downtown in a small studio apartment, while Edward lived in the industrial area in an abandoned warehouse turned apartment building. They both lived alone.

When they started talking about Washington, it occurred to Edward that they went to many of the same places. The same supermarkets, clubs, clothes stores and so on. He couldn't believe that they hadn't met before. Not until Michael by coincidence came into a club and saw what he meant was the woman of Edwards' dreams.

He was right.

Edward couldn't help, while looking at Danielle, to wonder what it would be like to kiss her, to hold her in his arms. His dreams were so intense that he didn't even hear what Danielle said. Then he realized that her lips were moving.

"What?" he said while trying to shake the fantasies.

"I asked if you wanted to leave. It's a beautiful night outside and it's a shame to let it go to waste."

Edward nodded.

"Let me just get the check, then I'll drive you home."

Edward was behind the wheel of his cream-colored Cadillac. He had the top down; the cool wind caressed his face and the stars shone down on him. And Danielle was sitting beside him.

They had parked the car at Capitol, and were just sitting there, watching the moon and the stars. Danielle had scooted over, she had her head on his shoulder and he had his arm around her.

It was a warm night. Not uncomfortable, but just right. They sat there in silence for a long time, none of them wanted to spoil the moment by saying something. Finally, Danielle sighed deeply.

"It's so beautiful here. I can't believe I've never done this before."

Edward looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I would have been here every night, had I known about the view from here. I mean, you can see as many stars from here as you can out in the countryside."

She heard Edward laugh and raised her head to look at him.

"What are you laughing about?"

"The view from here is temporary. Someone knocked out all the bulbs in the streetlights yesterday. It was on the front page this morning."

Danielle smiled.

"Then I'm glad you read your morning paper. I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

She leaned her head back against his shoulder.

"This is nice," she whispered.

"I thought we had that covered already," Edward replied.

Danielle hit him lovingly on the chest.

"Not the sky. Us, here, together."

She was about to move her hand from his chest when Edward grabbed it and held on. She turned her head to look at him, but before she could utter a word, Edwards' lips touched hers. It was a brief kiss and still it took her breath away. She looked at him and there must have been something in her eyes that Edward couldn't quite read, because he started apologizing.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

Danielle stopped him by pressing a finger against his lips.

"Don't say anything."

Edward looked puzzled.

Then Danielle leaned forward and pressed her lips against his and he understood. He put his arms around her waist and felt her fingers caressing his hair. The kiss got deeper and more heartfelt and they cling to each other as if they feared the other would disappear if they let go. Then Edward finally let go of her lips and looked at her.

"I think I better drive you home now."

"Really?" Danielle said teasingly.

"Really," Edward established.

He knew that if he didn't take Danielle home right now, something would happen. Well, not exactly something. The thing. He knew exactly what would happen and he didn't want to rush things. This wasn't one of his usual conquests. At least he didn't want it to be. He wanted the time to explore if this could go as far as he hoped it could. As he wished it could.

Edward parked the Caddy outside Danielles building, got out, walked around the car and held the door for Danielle as a true gentleman. She smiled at him when he followed her to the front door.

"This is actually quite nice too. Do you want to come up for a minute?"

Edward shook his head.

"Better not. I have a feeling that if I come with you now, I won't be able to make myself leave."

Danielle put her arms around his waist.

"Would that be so bad?" she asked.

Edward put his arms around her shoulders and hugged her.

"In my book, it would be."

Danielle had her head against his chest.

"What do you mean?"

"I want this to take the time it'll take, whatever that means."

Danielle raised her head and looked at him.

"I know what that means and I agree."

Edward bent down and kissed her gently, then he let go of her.

"Dinner tomorrow?" he asked.

"It can't be dinner, I have to work tomorrow night. How about lunch?"

Edward smiled.

"That sounds great. We could take a ride out of town."

Danielle nodded.

"If you bring the car, I'll bring the food, okay?"

"I'll pick you up at noon tomorrow."

He got in the car.

Danielle stayed on the stairs until the Caddy was out of sight. This was almost too good to be true.

Danielle was in the shower the next morning when the phone rang. When she came running into the living room in her kimono, she heard the beep indicating that someone had just finished leaving a message on the machine. She pressed the play button as she sat down. The message was from Edward:  
"Hi, it's Edward. I'm sorry I have to cancel our lunch today, but I have been called to work immediately. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I'll call you as soon as I come home again. I'll see you. Bye."

Danielle leaned back in the sofa and stared at the phone. No lunch. No Edward. Hopefully he'd be home soon. She didn't know how she was going to make it without him. She had caught a bad case of love.

A week passed with no notable changes. Nothing out of the ordinary. Danielle did some extra performances at the club, she told the owner it was for the money, but it was really to help her pass the time until Edward came home again.

When she came home on the seventh night the light on the answering machine was blinking. She hurried to the phone and pressed play.

"Hi, it's Edward. You know, the nice guy you got set up with. Oh well, you've probably forgotten all about me after all this time. I just got back from work and I'm beat. I have barely slept in 72 hours, so if you don't mind, I think I'll get some sleep before I see you. Otherwise I might scare you off. I'll call you tomorrow afternoon. Hope you'll be home then. Goodnight."

Danielle smiled to herself. Edward was back – and he wanted to see her again.

Danielle tossed and turned in her sleep. She was having a nightmare, the same she'd had every night, the past three weeks. A blue Mercedes with dark windows was following her wherever she went.

She woke up, covered in sweat. The clock said 3.43. It was pitch-dark outside. She got out of bed, reached out to turn on the light and froze. No lights, a voice in her head said. In the dark she walked across the floor and, hidden behind the curtain, looked out the window. Across the street, a car was parked. A blue Mercedes with dark windows. She took a step back and walked into a table. She turned and saw the phone. A thought made her pick it up and dial 911. Just before the connection was established, there was a small, barely noticeable click on the line. The sound made Danielle hang up, just as she got through.

Someone was listening. She knew they were.


	2. Chapter 2

Her mind was frantically trying to find a way, something she could do. She was too scared to move. A look out of the window made her frozen feet melt. A man had gotten out of the Mercedes and he was walking towards the front door of her building. Without a second of hesitation, she reached for her coat and slid it over her nightgown. She slipped into a pair of loafers while her left hand grabbed the keys and her purse from the table. Then she ran across the apartment, through the kitchen and out onto the backstairs.

She didn't know how, but she made it down the stairs, through the alley and out into the back alley without having a stroke out of pure fear. Within a second she managed to hail a cab.

"Whereto?" the cabdriver asked when she jumped into the backseat.

Danielle stared at him. She had no idea where to go whom to trust. She suddenly realized that she did have someone to trust.

Out of her pocket she pulled the card Edward had given her. She looked at his handwriting, telling her the time and place of last week's dinner. Then she looked at the other side and smiled. Thank God for men with printed business cards, she thought and gave the cabdriver the address.

Danielle paid the driver and got out of the cab, preoccupied by looking at the building in front of her. It looked like the building had once been a warehouse of some kind, but the number of mailboxes told her that now it was a popular apartment building.

Once she had gotten in she looked at the board on the wall to locate Edward. She found the name E. Marcase on top of the board, second floor on the left.

Danielle had her first doubts when she stood outside the door.

"What am I doing?" she whispered to herself.

After a brief but passionate discussion in her head weighing the pros and the cons, she raised her hand and knocked on the door before all of her courage left her.

She waited and listened. Nothing. She knocked again, this time a bit harder. Now she could hear footsteps on the other side of the door. Then it was opened.

"I'm not going to work. It's my day off."

Edward blinked as he recognized Danielle.

"Danielle?" he managed to utter:  
"What are you doing here?"

She tried to smile, but the expression on her face was one of pure fear.

Edward saw that and opened the door wider.

"Come in."

When she walked pass him, he noticed a shine of white satin underneath her coat and realized that she had to be wearing her nightgown.

She stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face him.

"I'm sorry," she stuttered:  
"I know you needed to sleep and I didn't want to disturb you but I didn't know where else to go."

Edward stared at her, the air of worry was obvious in his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Danielle shook her head in distress and tried to talk, but nothing came out.

Edward put his hands on her shoulders.

"Take it easy. You're hyperventilating."

He caught her eyes at last.

"Take a couple of deep breaths. Come on."

He breathed with her until the color started coming back to her face.

She looked directly at him and the expression on her face was so close to a smile that he concluded that she had in fact calmed down now.

"Now, slowly, tell me what's wrong? Take your time, I'm not going anywhere."

Danielle took one very deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"I'm being watched," she finally whispered.

"Watched?" Edward asked:  
"What do you mean watched?"

She shrieked.

"I know how it sounds. You think I'm crazy, don't you? Maybe that's what they're trying to do. Make me crazy."

"Who?" Edward asked:  
"Who's trying to make you crazy?"

She took a couple of step away from him, tearing herself out of his grip.

"Do you think I would be like this if I knew? No way. I'd be sitting at the police station filing a report. How should I know who they are? I don't even know why they're doing this?"

Edward ran a hand through his hair as if it helped clear his head.

"What exactly have 'they' done to make you feel watched?"

Danielle was staring out of the window, down on the street. No cars were in sight.

"There's this car. A Mercedes. It's been following me for a week now. When I leave work, it follows me, and when I'm at home, it's parked across the street."

She turned around to face him.

"I hadn't really thought about it until tonight when I woke up. I had had a nightmare about that same car. As if my sub-conscience was trying to tell me something. I got so scared. I grabbed the phone and dialed 911. But just before I got through there was this - click - on the line and I knew someone was listening in. For a second I thought I'd seen to many thrillers on TV, but then a man got out of the car and walked towards my building. He stared right at me Edward. It scared me so much, I just grabbed my coat and hurried out the back."

She took a deep breath and plunged down into the couch. It had been quite a speech she'd made.

Edward was walking back and forth in front of her, he seemed to be thinking about something.

"So the car was there when you left?"

She nodded.

"Of course. The driver had gotten out and I'm pretty sure they didn't see me leave from the backside of the alley."

She looked at him.

"What are you going to do?"

Edward picked up the phone.

"I'm gonna call Michael and have him pick me up. Then we'll go check out this ghost car of yours."

Danielle pulled the phone out of his hand.

"No, don't. Don't leave me alone."

Her eyes begged him to stay and the thought of him leaving made her start shaking again.

"Please don't go," she whispered.

Her eyes were shining because of a few tears of fear and Edward smiled at her.

"I'm not leaving you."

He put his arms around her.

"Nothing on Earth could make me leave you now."

He felt her arms around his neck and sighed.

"I'll tell you what," he said, to get his mind preoccupied with something other than the young woman in his arms:

"I think I know exactly what you need right now."

She looked at him:  
"What?"

Edward smiled:  
"You need some sleep. Sleep always works wonders for me and I'm sure it will for you too. And in the morning when we feel awake and with a fresh mind, we'll get Michael and then we'll check out your place. Okay?"  
Danielle nodded:  
"Okay."

Edward led her to the bedroom, got the coat of her and sat her down on the bed. While he took her shoes of he smiled at her.

"Now you lie down and close your eyes. And if you need anything, I'll be right in the next room, on the couch, okay?"

He turned around to leave, but Danielle grabbed his hand.

"Don't go. Please don't go."

Edward could see pure unadulterated fear in her eyes as he sat down beside her.

"I'll be right next door," he whispered.

"No," she replied:  
"I want you here - with me. Please."

The look in her eyes changed into something else.

They were still shining, but not with fear. Edward wasn't sure, but he thought he recognized a strong burning desire deep in her beautiful eyes.

"We've only just met," he whispered.

Danielle nodded.

"I know."

She kept staring at him with firm eyes.

"I knew from the moment I saw you that this was it," Danielle mumbled:   
"It can't be wrong then, can it?"

Edward shook his head.

"I knew it too."

He reached up and let his fingers run down her neck, down to her collarbone and unbuttoned the first button in her nightgown.

"Are you sure?" he whispered.

Danielle looked at him, her eyes were burning.

"I want to be with you," she whispered:  
"Now. Tonight."

When she had spoken the last word, Edward bent forward and his lips touched hers. A shock wave went through both of them and Danielle threw her arms around his neck and clung herself to him. All of her fears had been wiped away.

Danielle woke up with her head on Edwards' chest. When she moved, he groaned and opened his eyes. For a second he just lay there, looking at her. Then he smiled:  
"Good morning."

Danielle smiled back:  
"Good morning."

She let her fingers caress his chest and curled up close to him.

"Thank you for not leaving me."

Edward laughed.

"Think about what I would have missed if I had left you."

He put his arm tighter around her waist and kissed her gently.

"I hope you realize I'll never leave you now."

Danielle smiled.

"I was hoping you'd say something like that," she whispered:   
"Because if you hadn't said it, I would."

She put her head on his chest again.

"I can't think of anywhere else in the whole wide world I'd rather be than right here."

Edward smiled:  
"Then it's just right."

He put his other arm around her.  
"I think Michael takes his morning run right about now. We won't be able to reach him for at least an hour - maybe even two."

Danielle smiled.

"Good," she mumbled and received Edwards's kisses with eager anticipation for more.

Edward and Danielle finally made it out of bed at noon, and while Danielle searched the kitchen cabinets for some breakfast, Edward called Michael.

Michael picked up immediately.

"Edward?" he said:  
"I didn't expect to hear from you while you were off duty?"

"I need a favor," Edward answered.

"Anything," Michael said.

"It's personal."

"Just tell me what you want me to do."

"Can you come pick me up in an hour? I'm at home."

"I'll see you then," Michael said and hung up.

Edward took a deep breath and went into the kitchen to help Danielle with the breakfast.

There was a knock on the door exactly one hour later. When Edward opened, Michael smiled at him.

"Not ready yet?"

He looked at Edward who was trying to do three things at one time. Put a T-shirt on, button his pants and getting his feet in a pair of hiking boots:  
"And I thought this was important."

"It is," Edward uttered:  
"I've just had a lot on my mind."

"I can see that."

Edward looked at Michael and realized that his colleague was no longer looking at him, but something behind him. Edward turned and saw - Danielle!

She was standing in his bedroom door, wearing one of his T-shirts and with a look on her face he couldn't quite make out. She finally mounted a smile and walked up to Edward.

"Hi Michael," she said as casually as possible:  
"It's good to see you again."

Michael laughed:  
"Yes it is. It really is."

He was smiling so much, Edward had to say something to break the silence.

"Why don't we get going?" he asked.

"What are we doing?" Michael said.

Edward shook his head.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way."

He grabbed his coat and Danielles keys and kissed her gently.

"I'll see you later."

She smiled:  
"I'll be here, don't worry."

Edward smiled back, then he left the apartment with Michael right on his tail.

Danielle took a deep breath. She was alone!

Michael walked through the open door of the apartment with his gun drawn. He checked the entire place before he returned to the door and waved Edward in.

"Someone was definitely here. Unfortunately they're also long gone."

Edward looked around.

"They really trashed the place didn't they?"

Michael nodded:  
"It's a good thing she's staying with you. It'll take weeks to clean up this mess."

Edward looked at Michael.

"It wasn't my imagination that night at the club was it? You were actually playing matchmaker on my behalf?"

Michael laughed:  
"I'm sorry about that. But it worked, didn't it?"

Edward shrieked.

"You won't hear any arguments from me."

They both looked around the apartment.

"What about the phone?" Edward asked:  
"Is it tapped?"

Michael didn't move and Edward put a hand on his shoulder:  
"What?"

Michael pointed towards the couch. The phone was lying on the carpet, divided into pieces.

"I don't think there's any point in checking."

Edward took a deep breath.

"Should we get someone to dust for prints?"

Michael shook his head.

"No point in that either. Whoever did this knew what they were doing."

Edward sighed.

"Now what?"

"Now we go through everything anyway to try to prove I'm wrong."

He looked at Edward.

"Don't just stand there. Start looking."

Edward sighed again.

"Let's get this over with."

Three hours later they hadn't found anything to lead them any closer to whoever trashed the place. Michael had leaned back in a comfortable chair when Edward came out of the bedroom. He had a bag in his hand. He saw the questioning look in Michael's eyes and smiled:  
"I packed some clothes for Danielle. I don't want her back here tonight and she can't keep wearing my T-shirts."

"Why not?" Michael asked:  
"She looks better in them than you do."

The first thing Edward saw when he walked through the door to his apartment was Danielle, dancing around - in one of his T-shirts. The air was filled with music and Danielle was singing along. She hadn't even noticed him yet. When she spun around, she stopped the moment she set eyes on him.

"Edward?" she uttered:  
"I didn't hear you come in."

She reached out and turned down the stereo.

The expression on her face was that of a scared mouse, having been caught in something she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to get caught in.

"Did you find out anything?"

Edward walked to her and pulled her down on the couch with him.

"There was no car," he started.

Danielle looked griefstruck.

"But," he continued:  
"Someone was listening in on you."

He held her hands.

"Unfortunately they got there before we did. They not only trashed your phone to remove their listening device. They trashed your entire apartment."

Danielle stared at him:  
"What? Why?"

Edward shook his head.

"I don't know. Maybe to prove some kind of point."

He looked at her.

"Do you have any idea who could be doing this to you?"

Danielle shook her head.

"No idea. I don't think I'm prone to making a lot of enemies working with what I do."

She sat back.

"The only thing I can think of is that it all started the day after I met Michael, but that's crazy. Michael wouldn't do this to me."

"Not Michael," Edward said:  
"But someone who was watching Michael when you met."

He jumped out of the couch and Danielle stared at him.

"What?" she said:  
"What are you thinking about?"

He started pacing back and forth across the living room floor.  
"I just got a very bad feeling about this."

He jumped when the phone rang.

The conversation was short, in fact, Edward didn't say a word in the 15 seconds he held the phone to his ear, until he put it down again.

"I don't believe this," he mumbled:  
"I have to leave on an assignment. Rendezvous at the Mansion is in one hour."

"The Mansion?" Danielle asked.

Edward nodded.

"A big secluded place near Reston. It's headquarters to our team."

"What team?"

Edward turned:  
"Michael didn't tell you?"

She shook her head.

"He didn't tell me anything - except every little private detail he knew about you."

Edward smiled.

"I should have known that much."

He kept talking while starting to pack a bag of clothes and a few medical supplies.

"Both Michael and I are members of a bio crisis team. We're the tip of the spear if you want. We're the ones they send in when all else fails. The expendable ones you know."  
She nodded:  
"Yeah I know."

She recognized the bag on the floor and opened it.

"You got me some clothes," she laughed:  
"Thank you."

She was trying to fit something together when she suddenly realized that Edward had stopped right in front of her.

"What?"

She looked at him with a smile.

"I want you to get dressed," he said:  
"You're coming with me."

Danielle didn't say anything, she didn't know what to say.

Edward put his hands on her shoulders.

"You won't be safe here while I'm away. Not if my assumption about who followed you is correct."

He put the bag in her hands.

"But at the Mansion you'll be under surveillance 24 hours a day, right until I get back and we can deal with this thing."

He started pushing Danielle towards the bedroom door.

"But isn't it a government facility? How are you going to get me in?"

Edward smiled:  
"We'll worry about that obstacle when we get to it. Now, you get dressed, we leave in exactly ten minutes."

He shut the door behind her and sighed. Now he had to get ready himself.


	3. Chapter 3

The road from D.C. to Reston went through a beautiful landscape, with trees, rugged rock formations and vast horizons at certain points. The sun was shining from a clear blue sky, and Edward had the top down. From time to time he turned his head and glanced at Danielle over the top of his sunglasses. She had her head leaned against his shoulder and she looked more relaxed than he had ever seen her before. The radio was playing in the background, and the music seemed to somehow fit their surroundings, making both of them feel like they were watching the scenery of a movie.

Danielle awoke from her haze when the car started bumping. She raised her head to see that Edward had turned off and they were on a bumpy dirt road. 

When he made a left turn, a fence and a guardhouse suddenly emerged from behind the trees.

An armed guard walked up to the car, just as Edward stopped in front of the gate. Edward showed the guard an ID card and the guard held out a device with a screen.

"Hand on the form sir," he said.

Edward put his hand on the screen and Danielle watched as it scanned his handprint. A green light shone and the guard nodded at Danielle. Edward raised his hand.

"It's all right. She's with me."

The guard looked speculative for a second, then he signaled to the other guard to open the gate.

"Thank you," Edward said and drove through.

The Mansion was everything Edward had said it would be - and more. When Danielle got out of the car, she took a minute to absorb all the impressions she collected of the building. Then Edward took her by the hand and they entered through the front door.

They had barely gotten through the door before a man stopped in front of them. He was tall and slender and the look on his face signaled total self-control. Except when he looked into Danielle's eyes.

"A civilian, doctor Marcase?"

He stared at Edward:  
"You brought a civilian here?"

Edward shook his head.

"Doctor Cassian, I can explain..."

"And I expect you to do just that. My office - now!"

Doctor Cassian disappeared down the hallway and Edward followed him.

Danielle was left standing at the door, feeling more alone than ever.

She had been standing in the hallway for about five minutes when the front door was opened and Michael entered, accompanied by a woman.

"Danielle?" he said with an air of surprise:  
"What are you doing here?"

She smiled:  
"Edward brought me. He didn't tell me why, but he thought this was the only place I would be safe."

"Well, where is he then?" he asked.

Danielle was about to answer, when she heard steps behind her. Before she could turn around, Edward had put his arms around her waist and he held on tight. The other man looked at her.

"Miss Campbell, you are more than welcome to stay here at the Mansion until we are back. Come with me and I'll show you to your room."

Danielle turned to look at Edward, and when he nodded, she picked up her bag and followed doctor Cassian upstairs.

When Edward turned around, Michael and Kimberly were looking at him.

"It's a long story," he said apologetic.

"Make it short," Michael said:  
"What is she doing here?"

Edward walked up to Michael and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I think I know who has been following her."

He paused.

"Well, who?" Michael asked.

"The Dawn," Edward said in a calm voice.

"What?" Michael yelled:  
"Have you lost all sense of..."

He stopped when he realized that Cassian was standing right behind him. Danielle was standing next to him.

"Are we ready to go?" Cassian asked.

"What about...?" Michael began.

Cassian raised a hand.

"We'll talk about this when we get back. Right now I've got a car waiting outside."

He got Michael and Kimberly out of the door and turned to Edward.

"You too, Doctor Marcase."

Edward nodded.

"I'll be just a minute."

Cassian walked out and left the door open. Edward smiled at Danielle.

"I guess this is it," she whispered.

"Yes, this is it - for now," Edward answered.

He took her hands after having looked out. Michael, Kimberly and Cassian were all looking at him, waiting.

"If you have a problem, any problem, you just call the guards."

Danielle nodded.

"I know. Doctor Cassian told me."

The car horn awoke them both.

"I have to go."

"I know."

Edward was halfway through the door when Danielle grabbed hold of him.

"I love you," she whispered and smiled.

Edward smiled back:  
"I love you too."

He held her face between his hands and kissed her softly.

Then the horn was honked again and Edward ran to the car. Ten seconds later he was gone. Danielle was alone at the Mansion.

After the first couple of hours of adjustment, Danielle was actually beginning to enjoy herself. She'd found the kitchen and after a quick glance through the cabinets, she knew she certainly wouldn't die of starvation. The cabinets were stacked to the limit, mostly with canned food, but Danielle felt like a queen.

Cassian had told her she would be all alone in the Mansion. All the guards and personnel would keep to their stations around the perimeter. The only human contact she would have would be the mail call or if she should need assistance of some kind. He had demonstrated the emergency button for her. There was one in every room of the house and if she pushed it, help would be on the way immediately. After having seen the look on Edwards face when he returned from her apartment, it didn't make her calm down completely.

There had been something in Edwards' eyes, something she couldn't identify, and it scared her to death. It wasn't so much the fact that she didn't know what scared him, it was the fact that something scared him at all. In his line of work she thought he had to be fearless. But something made him look at her as if he thought she would die, the minute he turned his back to her.

She looked out through the window in her room. She could see the two guards at the other end of the garden, watching the gate. No one could get in before Edward, Cassian and the others returned. She was safe. She knew she was.

That night she ate alone in the dining room. She had said hello to one of the guards who came to check on her while she was in the kitchen. Their short conversation was a welcome change in her solitude.

Now she was sitting at one end of a long, empty table, eating canned ravioli. It wasn't the most interesting dinner she could imagine, but what the Heck, the dinner conversation left much to be desired as well. She smiled to herself when she realized that the most plausible cause of death she was facing right now was that of boredom.

She turned from the table to look around the room. It was very tastefully decorated. The walls were painted pale terracotta and the dark wood antiques fit the Japanese ink prints perfectly. Even the thin white drapes fit. In fact, everything in the house was tastefully coordinated and Danielle was more than convinced that an interior decorator had been assigned to do the job.

There was just one thing that stuck out in every room of the house. Somewhere in the wall, Danielle had found a computer display. They were in all the rooms on the first floor. The one in the dining room was next to a large wooden door without a handle.

She'd been wondering about that door ever since she first saw it. The display consisted of buttons with the numbers from zero to nine and an enter button. There was a light panel on top with red glass and she figured because of the color, it was supposed to signal danger when it was on.

Normally she wasn't especially curious by nature, but after meeting Cassian and after all the problems at her apartment, she couldn't help but wonder.

Who were these people and what exactly was it they did for a living? She wasn't sure exactly what a biohazard team did, and Edward had been so busy, she hadn't had time to ask him. She stared at the display. There had to be a code that opened the door. But how many digits? God, there had to be more than a million combinations. She figured that if the code was supposed to be entered in a hurry, it couldn't have more than four digits. It would be crazy to make the code longer, because it heightened the possibility of forgetting the code or simply punch it in wrong.

It wasn't that she had some crazy idea that she could figure out the code and open the door. Her curiosity had simply gotten the best of her. So she was shocked when she punched in the fourth code and the door opened.

She didn't believe her own eyes. It was an elevator with silver gray walls and a sharp fluorescent light hidden in the ceiling. She stepped in and the doors closed behind her. She didn't have to do anything the elevator started by itself and she waited in anticipation for what was to come.

The first feeling that she experienced when the elevator doors opened, was disappointment. All that was revealed to her were gray corridors with humming fluorescent lights in the ceiling. The sound wasn't loud, but it was persistent and it soon started to hurt her ears.

She remembered the one time she had been admitted to the hospital. They had fluorescent lights as well, but she remembered them as being worse than these, because not only did they hum, they blinked too. The hospital had explained it with faulty wirering, but Danielle had them under suspicion for conducting a secret experiment with the patients. She had witnessed the effect the constant blinking lights had on people.

She looked around again. This place actually reminded her of a hospital perhaps in a more sinister way.

Then she froze. There was a glass door in front of her and she recognized the symbol on it. A red flower with three petals. It was a biohazard warning level four and suddenly Danielle realized exactly what Edward worked with. He was a virologist and he worked with the most dangerous viruses of them all, the ones without cure.

Danielle closed the bedroom door and sat down on the bed. She was sweating – probably because she had run all the way from the elevator to the upstairs bedroom. She looked out of the window. The view of the garden revealed a beautiful evening but Danielle wasn't quite able to enjoy it. She was thinking about the symbol. Biohazard. Edward had said that he was part of a bio-crisis team, but he hadn't told her exactly what it was he worked with. Why? Because of an oath of secrecy? She didn't think so. She thought Edward might have kept it from her out of fear. Fear that his line of business would scare her to death and she would run away from him, screaming.

She took a deep breath. If she didn't get her act together, she was going to prove him right, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. She had been alone in the world when Edward had come along. All the family she had left was an uncle and she didn't have any friends worth mentioning. She had never, in her wildest dreams, imagined that loving someone would be such an overwhelming emotion. And she did love him.

She leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. She had just realized it. She loved Edward. She smiled to herself. The feelings that rushed through her body were strong enough to overcome any obstacles, any fears. Even the fears she had about Edwards' job.

She got up and opened the door to the balcony. When she stepped out, the setting sun hit her body and she felt better, happier and not at all worried about the future. She decided to stay on the balcony for a while and enjoy the magnificent view of the garden that seemed to continue forever. She had just sat down in a deckchair when she heard a knock on the door. One of the guards came in with a long white box in his hands. He was smiling at her, when she came back into the bedroom to meet him.

"A messenger left this at the gate. It's addressed to you."

He handed her the box.

Danielle accepted it looking a bit confused.

"How can it be addressed to me? No one knows I'm here."

The guard smiled:  
"Maybe it's from Doctor Cassian."

He left the bedroom and Danielle to wonder about the box alone.

But she wasn't wondering anymore. She had just one thought lingering in her mind. Edward. Edward had been thinking of her. She put the box on the bed and opened it. It contained a dozen of the most beautiful roses. In color they were dark enough to resemble velvet. She picked up the bouquet to really look at it when she flinched in pain. She looked at her right index finger. There was a drop of blood on it. She put her finger in her mouth, trying to stop the bleeding while she walked downstairs with the roses in the other hand. She had been so absorbed with the beauty of the flowers that she had forgotten that roses had thorns. She entered the kitchen. First she found a vase for the roses and put them in water. Then she searched through the kitchen cabinets and drawers to find a Band-Aid. She found some in the broom closet and after having rinsed the cut she put a wide piece of Band-Aid on it. Then she looked at the roses again. They were truly wonderful. She picked up the vase and left the kitchen. She wanted the flowers to be on the table in the beautiful living room.

It was sometime during the next morning that Danielle came down with a fever. She had woken up with a killer headache that no amounts of pills seemed to cure. She had retired to the garden where she had spent all morning in a hammock, shielded from the sun by a huge oak tree. When she went back inside she still had a headache and she was sure she had a fever as well. Because of her commencing muscle pains, she figured it had to be the flu. What else could it be? She wasn't particularly hungry, so she dragged herself upstairs where she collapsed on top of the bed.

She didn't get out of bed the next day. She just lay there from sunup to sunset, staring out of the window with blind eyes. She was too tired to sleep, too tired to eat, too tired to pick up the phone and ask the guards to get her a doctor. She could feel how the sheets were soaked in sweat, but she got dizzy even thinking about changing them. She quietly dozed of to sleep again, leaving the real world outside.

When Danielle opened her eyes next, the sun was shining outside. Her entire body hurt. Her muscles, her head, her intestines, even her skin hurt. In her fever stricken state she remembered why she had been afraid of Edwards work. She had always been scared to death of getting sick. She hated diseases and hospitals and her threshold for pain was very low. She laughed on the inside; her lips and lungs wouldn't cooperate in a real laugh.

She tried to imagine what she looked like now. Beaten by a disease, she couldn't believe it. She felt an itch on the thin skin underneath her nose and gathered the strength to raise her arm and scratch it. Then she stared at her hand in disbelief. It was covered in blood. What, she thought to herself. What is going on?

She gathered all the strength left in her body and then some and pulled herself up and out of the bed. If it had been possible, she would have screamed when she saw herself in the mirror. She had a nosebleed. That must have been the cause of the itch. But as she stared at her reflection – mesmerized by what she saw, she realized that her nose wasn't the only thing bleeding. Blood was streaming from her eyes, eyes that looked bloodshot as it was. And when she saw the bloodlines running from her ears and down her neck, she knew why the songbirds outside had sounded strange for more than a day now. This was not the flu. This was something else, something dangerous.

Without warning she threw up. She hadn't eaten in days, her stomach was empty, yet she still threw up. She looked at the puddle of blood on the floor, not quite realizing that it came from herself. Help, she thought, I have to get help.

She didn't know where the strength came from but she managed to get all the way from the upstairs bedroom to the downstairs hall without falling down the stairs and break her neck. She was exhausted but she hadn't dared to stop and take a breath, fearing that her superhuman strength would suddenly disappear and leave her stranded, helpless.

When she first started her mission, the goal had been to make it to the telephone, but halfway down the stairs she remembered that there was a perfectly good telephone in her bedroom, and she realized that the phone hadn't been her goal at all.

She was a good person. She cared about other people even if they didn't always care about her. And no matter how scared she was of this disease, of the pain, of the possibility of dying, she couldn't risk someone else's lives. Her goal was the basement, one of the sealed labs where she could lie down and concentrate on staying alive until Edward and the others came back. Hopefully in time.

She was ten feet from the living room door when her feet wouldn't carry her anymore. She could see the elevator door clearly when her legs collapsed under her and she fell to the floor. She didn't try to get up. She knew it was useless. Whatever strength she had had was gone and all that was left was an aching, bleeding body that felt like it was falling apart. Although she got chills from time to time, her fever was still dangerously high and the marble floor felt soothingly cool through her thin clothes.

This wasn't exactly the quiet week in the country she had hoped for. This didn't match the wonderful dream she had had on her first night here. A dream where she and Edward were together. With that final thought in her head, she drifted into a coma and the physical pain disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

The mission van pulled up in front of the Mansion. They had been gone for five days and they were all eager to get back to their normal routines.

Edward was the first one through the door. He spotted Danielle immediately.

"What the Hell happened here?"

Michael came in right behind Edward, and his outburst made Cassian and then Kimberly hurry through the door. Cassian noticed the trail of blood on the marble floor.

"Edward don't…" Edward put his hands on Danielles shoulders and gently turned her around "touch her."

Cassians plead came too late. Edward lovingly caressed Danielle's cheek.

"Oh my God," he whispered.

Danielle was bleeding from her nose, ears, eyes and mouth. Her clothes were soaked in blood as well and her entire body was covered with soars and white blisters. Edward reached out and searched for a pulse. He found one, short and thready, but it was there.

Cassian had gotten masks and gloves for Kimberly, Michael and himself, and now he knelt down beside Edward.

"We have to get her down to the labs and run some tests."

"I know what it is."

Cassian stared at him.

"How?"

Edward checked Danielle's eyes for response. None.

"Because she looks exactly like my mother did before she died."

He took Danielle in his arms and carried her to the elevator where Cassian entered his code.

"I have to isolate you Edward. We don't know if you're right and if you're not you have been exposed to whatever Danielle has."

Edward stood next to a hospital bed in which Danielle was now lying.

"I know Cassian. I want to be here anyway."

Cassian nodded at Edward. He saw something in the eyes of the young virologist, something that he had never seen there before.

"What tests are you running?" Edward asked, adjusting the IV fluids.

"I asked Doctor Shiroma to do a test for IgM and IgG antibodies. And I'm going to do a virus isolation myself to make sure we've got all bases covered."

"What about Michael?"

"He's overseeing the temporary lockdown of the upstairs for now. We're sealing the upper floors until we know whether this thing is airborne or not."

Edward nodded.

"Sounds like you don't need me," he said sarcastically.

Cassian smirked as he left the observatory.

"Why, Doctor Marcase, I thought you were busy with a patient and shouldn't be disturbed."

Then Cassian was gone and Edward was alone with Danielle again.

He sat down beside the bed. Cassians joke had been welcome in an already dark atmosphere, but the remembrance of fun had faded as soon as he turned and looked at Danielle again. He took her hand in his. She looked so fragile, lying there, paler than the whiteness of the pillowcase.

Why?

That was the question that he asked himself over and over again. Before they had left, he had mentioned to Cassian that he thought the Dawn was following Danielle. Why would they do that? She had noticed the Mercedes around the same time she met Michael the first time in the club in Washington. Was it possible that the car hadn't been following Danielle, but Michael instead? And when they met she became of interest to them. Edward leaned back in his seat. Had he dragged Danielle into this? Was he responsible for her lying here, fighting death with what little strength she had left in her worn out body?

"Edward!"

He woke up abruptly at the sound of Cassians voice. He turned to see him standing in the upper observatory, looking down into the sealed lab. His voice had come through the COM link. For a second when he heard his voice, Edward had thought it had all been a bad dream. He hadn't been sitting here with Danielle, in isolation, not being able to do anything.

"What is it?" he said.

"We have the results of ELISA."

Edward waited:  
"And?"

"And you were right."

An enlarged picture of the filovirus that Edward recognized as Ebola appeared on the projection screen in front of him.

"In fact, you were more right than you could possibly know."

"What do you mean?"

Edward got up and faced Cassian through the glass.

"I had Kimberly check out any similarities with the previous strains. It's Ebola Zaire."

"So?" Edward looked at him.

"It's the 1976 strain. It matches the Maryinga sample from Fort Detrick exactly."

He paused for a second.

"This is the exact same strain that killed your parents and infected you."

Edward sat down.

"How is that possible?"

Cassian shook his head.

"All I can think of is that someone broke into USAMRIID and stole a sample of the Maryinga strain. I just can't figure out how Danielle got infected."

"I can."

Michael had entered the observatory. He had a long square box in his hands.

"What is it?" Cassian said.

Michael held the box up so both Cassian and Edward down below could see the bottom of it. There was a small Dawn logo in the middle.

"Where did you get that?"

Cassian stared at Michael.

"In Danielle's bedroom. It contained roses. They were on the living room table."

Edward turned around and looked at Danielle. His eyes searched and found the Band-Aid on her finger.

"Roses have thorns," he mumbled:  
"Don't touch the roses."

He turned to look up at Michael.

"Way ahead of you," he said:  
"They're in bio containment already and Kimberly is checking them."

Edward sighed.

"That means Danielle got the virus directly into the bloodstream. I couldn't understand how she had gotten sick so fast before."

Kimberly entered the observatory. She looked more worried than any of them had ever seen her before.

"I have the initial results from the roses," she said:  
"They're packed with virus." It almost looks like someone dipped them into Ebola."

She looked down on Edward.

"Danielle's tests are bad. As far as I can see, all we can do now is wait."

Edward shook his head.

"No, I want to try a transfusion."

"A transfusion?" Kimberly said:  
"With what?"

"My blood," Edward answered and started preparing everything.

"You can't do that Edward," Kimberly said in a hard voice.

"Watch me," he replied, not even looking at her.

"Edward, there is no scientific proof that this works. Maybe if we produced some blood plasma we could try…"

"No Kimberly," Edward shouted:  
"We have no time to make plasma. The transfusion will have to do."

"There's no guarantee it's going to work," Cassian cut in.

"I know. But I have to do something."

Cassian nodded.

"I understand. If you wait a minute, I'll suit up and give you a hand."

He left the observatory.

"You can't transfuse contra bloodtype," Kimberly uttered.

Edward finally looked up at her.

"Don't you think I checked? We're both type O."

Kimberly looked at Michael then back at Edward.

"I'll be in the lab working on the analysis," she said and left.

Michael looked down at Edward. He hadn't even noticed Kimberly was gone. He was busy preparing himself for giving blood while waiting for Cassian.

When Daniel Cassian had tapped as much of Edwards' blood as he dared, he helped him up and offered him a glass of juice. While the young virologist drank, Cassian hooked the blood into Danielles IV together with the fluids. He looked back at Edward.

"You know," he said:  
"I just realized that you don't have to be in isolation anymore."

Edward looked at him.

"What?" he said in a sleepy voice.

"Well, since this is the same strain that infected you in '76, you shouldn't have to worry about a secondary infection. It's never been heard of."

He paused to look closer at Edward.

"You look tired."

He walked over to him and helped him stand.

"Why don't you go take a decontaminating shower and then grab a cup of coffee in the conference room? I'll monitor Danielle until you get back."

For a second, Edward looked like he wanted to protest, then he nodded and walked towards the door.

"Let me know if there are any changes," he said.

"Of course," Cassian replied.

Edward leaned back in the chair in the basement conference room. He was tired and he had every intention of drinking the cup of coffee in front of him, but instead he ended up sitting there, just looking at it.

The only thing that kept his body going was adrenaline. That and a very strong will. He wanted to be there for Danielle – all the way. And now Cassian had shipped him of to the conference room – for some down time as he had said.

He heard steps behind him and two seconds later, Kimberly sat down next to him. When she saw the haunted expression on his face she shook her head.

"No, no, everything's fine. Or put in another way, nothing has changed. She's been stabile for an hour now."

Kimberly looked at Edward.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Edward said.

"For questioning you. There was no time to make let alone get the blood serum. I see that now."

She looked at him again.

"I don't have any experience with Ebola patients, but it looks to me as if the transfusion is helping. Her condition is no longer deteriorating."

"She's not getting any better either."

Edward slammed his fists in the table and made a growling sound:  
"This waiting is killing me. I want to do something, anything, but deep down I know there is nothing I can do."

"It _is_ frustrating," Kimberly agreed:  
"But the fact that she isn't getting any worse should indicate she's recovering."

Edward raised his head and looked at her.

"Appearances can be deceiving – especially when it comes to Ebola. My father seemed to be recovering just before he died."

He looked at his hands.

"You never know. Not with Ebola."

Kimberly was about to say something when Edward cut her of.  
"It's my fault," he said.

"What is?"

"Danielle, lying there infected with Ebola. It's my fault."

"Edward," Kimberly said:  
"Listen to yourself. How can it be your fault? You weren't even here."

Edward nodded.

"Exactly. I got her involved and then I wasn't even here when the Dawn tried to kill her of because of our relationship."

Kimberly reached out and put a hand on his arm.

"Edward, you're talking nonsense. You don't know why this happened. It could have been an accident."

"Not with the Dawn involved."

Kimberly was about to say something back when they heard Cassians voice on the intercom.

"Doctor Marcase, I think you better come down here."

Edward hurried through the door and almost knocked over Doctor Cassian in his bio suit in the process.

"What is it?" he said, running towards Danielle's bedside.

"She's coming to," Cassian said in a soft voice:  
"I don't know if it's the transfusion that's working, but she's coming out of the coma."

Edward sat down by the bed and took Danielles hand.

A few seconds later she slowly opened her eyes. They were red, bloodshot and she was bleeding from the tear ducts. Yet she didn't seem aware of it. Her eyes had found Edward immediately and he could feel how she squeezed his hand just a little bit.

"Hi," he whispered:  
"How are you feeling?"

He caressed her forehead and cheeks with his free hand.

"I'm thirsty," she whispered back.

Edward reached for the table and grabbed the icebox. He took a single ice cube and wetted her lips with it.

"Better?" he asked.

She nodded in response.

"It hurts," she suddenly whispered:

"It hurts everywhere."

Edward smiled at her.

"I know. You're very sick. You have Ebola."

Danielle still looked calm. Then she saw Cassian standing in the bio suit behind Edward and realized that he wasn't wearing any protection.

"No," she uttered, trying to get out of bed:  
"You have to get out of here. It's too dangerous."

Edward looked at Cassian then he turned back to Danielle shaking his head.

"I won't get sick," he whispered:  
"I had Ebola as a child. It killed my parents, but I survived."

He put his hand on her forehead caressing it with soft strokes, trying to get her to calm down.

"You don't have to worry about me, I promise."

He smiled.

"Instead I want you to concentrate on getting better. Can you do that for me?"

Danielle slowly nodded.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" Edward asked.

"Thank you for fighting for me."

He bent forward and gently kissed her hand.

"You're welcome. Now, go back to sleep. You need the rest to get better."

She closed her eyes and Edward watched her until she was asleep. Then he looked up at Cassian.

"I think it's working."

Cassian laughed.

"So do I."

Edward was half asleep sitting in a chair next to Danielle's bed. It wasn't exactly a comfortable chair, but he was dreaming about lying in bed and that made his current position tolerable. He had been awake for more than 72 hours by then and the blood transfusion he had undergone hadn't exactly helped in the matter. Finally his body had given in and he had fallen asleep with his head on Danielles left arm.

He slowly started to wake to the sound of his alarm clock, then he remembered that he wasn't at home and that there was no alarm clock.

"She's crashing."

The sound of Kimberly's voice awoke him faster than he would have thought possible. From the corner of his eye he saw her rushing through the lab door in her bio suit. He looked at the monitors next to Danielle's bed. He recognized the horrible sound, the sound that he had turned into the sound from an alarm clock in his tired state.

"She's flatlining," he yelled and rushed to help Kimberly with the crash cart.

"What happened?" Kimberly said while she ripped Danielle's hospital shirt open.

Edward shook his head.

"I don't know. One minute everything was fine and then this."

He took the paddles from the cart.

"Charge to 200," he said to Kimberly.

She turned the button on the cart then she returned to the CPR she had begun.

There was a beep from the cart.

"Clear."

Edward placed the paddles on Danielle's skin and released the charge. Danielle's body was lifted from the bed in the familiar spasm Edward had seen too many times. He looked at the monitor.

"Still flatlining. Charge to 300."

Kimberly turned the button.

"Charging."

The wait was excruciatingly long. Then finally a beep.

"Clear."

Edward placed the paddles and released a charge again. Again Danielle's body reacted with a spasm, but when she fell back in the bed, something had changed. When Edward looked at the monitor, he realized that it was the sound. It was no longer a monotonous ringing, it had returned to short regular beeps.

"We've got her."

He checked her pulse on the side of her neck and looked at Kimberly.

"That was a close call. Not many Ebola patients survive a cardiac arrest like this."

"No," Kimberly replied:  
"The rest of the system is usually so deteriorated that the heart just won't function again after an arrest."

Edward smiled as he ran a finger down Danielle's neck and pulled the torn shirt together over her bruised body.

"I guess she's stronger than I thought."

"Stronger than we all thought."

Kimberly smiled back at him.

"When I first saw her she seemed to be so fragile."

"She was scared," Edward whispered:  
"Fear has a profound effect on people, especially if they have never really experienced it."

Kimberly looked at Danielle.

"I'll get a new shirt for her."

Edward nodded back.

"I'll be right here."

Then he sat back down next to the bed and Kimberly left the lab again. It was quiet, just as if nothing had happened.

When Danielle woke up again later that same evening, Edward was by her side again. He smiled at her when he realized that she was awake.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi yourself," he whispered back:

"Are you feeling better?"

"I'm not sure," she replied.

"You're not sure?" Edward repeated:  
"How can you not be sure? Either you're better or you're not."

"Quit picking on the sick person," she yelped and Edward couldn't help but laugh.

"I know. I'm sorry."

He looked at her.

"Can you forgive me?"

She nodded in response.

"My chest hurts," she continued a second later:  
"It feels like an elephant's been sitting on my ribs."

Edward carefully felt her ribs with the tender touch, Danielle had come to expect from him.

"I think Kim broke a couple of your ribs when she performed CPR on you this evening."

Danielle looked confused.

"CPR? On me?"

He smiled.

"Don't worry. Kimberly is every bit the professional. And it's absolutely normal to end up with a couple of broken ribs after an episode like this."

Danielle shook her head.

"That's not it. It's just that…that…"

She paused and looked at Edward.

"What?" he whispered:  
"It's just that what?"

She sighed.

"That I've always been terrified of death."

Edward sat down in the chair next to the bed and grabbed her by the hand. There was a mysterious smile on his lips.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. And I know what I'm talking about. I've been there."

Danielle could almost feel her jaw drop.

"How?"

Edward smiled.

"I died and went to Heaven."

He could read from Danielle's expression that she found everything he had to say very hard to believe.

"Well," he said:  
"I didn't actually make it to Heaven, if I had, I wouldn't be here now. It wasn't my time you see."

Danielle stared at him.

"Was it when you had the Ebola?"

Edward shook his head.

"No no, it was much later. Actually it happened only a few weeks before we met."

"On an assignment?"

Edward nodded.

"Somebody decided to use me as a guinea pig in an experiment. They killed people and then brought them back to life in order to get the information the subject had received."

"Received from whom?"

He squeezed her hand.

"That's not important now. All you need to know is that death is not to be feared. You go to a wonderful place filled with love and happiness – and all the pain will have vanished."

He looked closely at her.

"There is nothing to fear. Believe me, death is a release into something so peaceful I can't begin to describe it."

Danielle smiled. There were tears in her eyes.

"You don't have to. I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice."

They stayed like that for a while, holding each other's hands and saying nothing.

Then Danielle suddenly smiled at him, a smile that almost blew him away.

"I'm glad it wasn't your time yet," she whispered.

Edward smiled back.

"So am I. So am I."


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Danielle was improving, no doubt about that.

When Cassian entered the sealed lab at exactly 8 in the morning, he couldn't figure out who was talking. The curtain was pulled tight around Danielle's bed, it hadn't been the night before, and he was about to pull it aside when he decided to announce himself.

"Are you awake?" he called out.

"Just a sec."

It wasn't Danielle that answered. It was Edward.

Two seconds later he pulled the curtains aside and welcomed Doctor Cassian inside.

"What have you been up to?" he asked and looked at Danielle who was completely covered by a blanked.  
"We were in the middle of administering a morning bath. Our patient woke up with a sudden urge to wash up."

Edward smiled at Danielle then he looked back at Cassian.

"Personally, I consider that very good news. Ebola patients rarely get consumed by personal hygiene issues."

"You're right," Cassian added:  
"Usually they're too busy being sick."

He smiled at Danielle.

"I think I'll leave you to it then," he said and touched her arm:   
"I'm glad you're feeling better."

She smiled.

"Thank you."

When Cassian pulled the curtains shut behind him she looked up at Edward again. Her eyes were still bloodshot, but her skin was beginning to return to a healthy pink color instead of the shaded black color it had before, and she looked wonderful in Edwards' eyes.

"Well," he said:  
"Where were we?"

He rolled the blanket away from her legs and reached for the sponge that was soaking in hot soap water.

"Which leg did we do?" he asked.

"Are you checking my memory?" she said with a smile.

"Maybe."

He smiled at her.  
"So?"

"We did the left leg – but only up to the knee."

Edward smiled.

"Then we better finish that leg before we start on the other one, won't we?"

She nodded and enjoyed the feeling of the hot sponge against her skin. This was by far the best bath she had ever gotten.

Edward was eating his breakfast in the conference room when Kimberly entered. She sat down at the other end of the table and looked at him. There was something in her smile, the expression on her face.

"What?" Edward finally uttered:  
"I can see that you are dying to tell me something. So, what is it?"

Kimberly smiled even brighter.

"She's recovering."

She looked at Edward.

"The new batch of tests proves it. She is recovering."

Edward still didn't say anything.

"She's gonna make it Edward, do you understand?"

He raised his head and looked at her.

"I'm not stupid you know?"

"No," Kimberly replied:  
"You're just a little hard of hearing some times."

They looked at each other for a second, then burst into a common laughter.

"I told you she was gonna make it. Of course she was gonna make it."

Edward sounded strange and Kimberly got up and walked to him. She sat down on the edge of the table and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What is it Edward?"

He shook his head.

"I can't stay here."

He pushed his half eaten breakfast away:  
"If I stay here – with her – it will happen again. Only next time it won't be Ebola. It'll be something else, something I can't cure."

He looked at Kimberly.

"I will not watch her die. I won't."

Kimberly shook her head.

"Of course you won't. Something like this will never happen again."

Edward got up so abruptly that he knocked his chair over.

"You're damn right it won't. I'll make sure of that."

He walked out of the conference room and Kimberly hurried after him.

"What are you talking about Edward? You're not making any sense."

He looked at her.

"Oh, I'm making a lot of sense."

He pushed the elevator button.

"Edward, what are you doing?"

Kimberly stepped in front of him to get his attention.

"I'm gonna go upstairs, pack my things and drive home. The further away from Danielle I get, the greater chance she has of surviving."

"Edward, she's recovering from Ebola. She needs you to be here."

Edward sighed.

"Don't you think I know that? Don't you understand that I would be by her side every day for the rest of my life if I could? But I can't. Not when it means risking her life."

He walked into the elevator and pushed the up-button. He caught Kimberly's eyes just before the doors closed.

"I can't stay Kim. I want to but I can't."

Then the doors closed and Kimberly heard the elevator move up. She shook her head. What was going to happen to Danielle when she found out about Edwards' decision? How were they ever going to find a way to tell her? She walked down the hall. She had to find Doctor Cassian.

Doctor Cassian was pacing back and forth behind his desk when Michael entered the office. Kimberly who was sitting in one of the deep chairs in front of the desk turned her head and looked at him.

"Did you catch him?"

Michael shook his head.

"Sorry. He'd already left the compound."

He looked at Cassian.

"I can send a couple of agents to pick him up at home."

Cassian shook his head.  
"That won't be necessary."

He sat down behind the desk and hid his face in his hands.

"What are we going to tell Danielle?" Michael said:  
"She's not going to be happy about the news."

Cassian slammed his hands in the table.

"And that is precisely why we are not going to tell her anything."

"What?"

Kimberly looked at him, suddenly aware of what he was saying.

"We can't lie to her Doctor Cassian."

"Maybe not Kimberly. But we can't tell her the truth either."

Kimberly opened her mouth to respond but Cassian cut her off.

"Miss Campbell is still a very sick young woman. Any negative influence could set her recovery back or maybe even cause the Ebola to gain a stronghold again. She needs a strong will to survive and I know that telling her the truth about Edward will break that will."

Michael had decided to join the debate and looked at Cassian.

"We have to tell her something. Edward hasn't left her side since we got back. She's not stupid. She'll wonder where he's gone to."

Cassian nodded.

"You're right."

He leaned back in his chair.

"We'll have to tell her that he's on an assignment."

"That could work," Kimberly said to herself.

"If it's going to work," Michael said:  
"Then Kimberly and I have to leave as well."

Both Cassian and Shiroma looked at Michael.

"She knows we are a team. There is no way she is going to believe that Edward left on assignment alone. But if only Cassian is left, then it really could work."

Cassian nodded.

"You're right. It has to be done that way."

He stood up.

"Michael, Kimberly, as of now the downstairs facility is off limits for the both of you."

He pointed to the door.

"I suggest you pack your things and go home for some downtime."

"What about our patient?" Kimberly said just before exiting the door.

"Don't worry about her," Cassian replied:  
"I'll make sure she has the best care possible. She'll be back on her feet in no time."

Kimberly had paused in the door. She looked worried. Cassian shook his head.

"Doctor Shiroma. Go home. Leave the worrying to me."

She hesitated for a second; then she nodded farewell and left the office. Cassian sighed. Now it was up to him to make a white lie sound plausible in the ears of a sick young woman.

Half an hour later, Doctor Daniel Cassian went to check on Danielle. She seemed to be asleep but opened her eyes when he bent over her bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cassian said:  
"I didn't mean to wake you."

Danielle smiled.

"That's alright. I wasn't really sleeping."

She looked at Cassian as he stood there in his bio-suit.

"How much longer will it be necessary for you to wear that?"

Cassian smiled.

"A couple of days, until we've made sure the Ebola is regressing. Then facemasks and surgical gloves will do for the remainder of the time."

"Which is?"

Cassian looked confused at the question.

"Which is what?" he said.

Danielle looked impatient.

"When am I going to be able to leave this place?"

Cassian was checking her eyes while answering.

"You're going to leave this place in a couple of weeks. We're going to put you up somewhere else for your physical rehabilitation."

"And how long will that take?"

Cassian stopped examining her vitals and concentrated on the conversation instead.

"We won't know for at least a week how weakened your physical state has gotten. But all things taken into consideration, I'd say you can expect at least two or three months of our hospitality."

Danielle leaned back against the pillow and sighed.

"God, I won't have a life to return to when you're done with me."

Cassian tried to comfort her.  
"Try not to worry. We'll do everything we can to make sure you can return to your normal life when this is over."  
"Nothing is ever going to be the same," she whispered:  
"Not after this."

She stared into the ceiling for a second.  
"Where is Edward?"

The question had come so suddenly that Cassian almost dropped what he was holding. He was lucky he had his back turned to Danielle, because at that very second she could have read his face like an open book.

He turned around and looked at her.

"Edward is on assignment with Michael and Kimberly. There is a crisis situation in Costa Rica we have to deal with."

"When will he be back?"

Cassian shook his head.

"I don't know. I'm going to join them in a couple of days to assess the danger."

Danielle stared at him.

"But if you're leaving, then what's going to happen to me?"

Doctor Cassian smiled.

"Don't you worry about that. I've called on a team of specialists, some of them have been my personal friends for years, and they are going to help you in any way they can."

"Do I really need an entire team to help me?"

Danielle looked surprised.

Cassian checked her pulse.

"Only the best for you Miss Campbell. We're all very determined to get you through this as smoothly as possible."

He looked at her.

"So," he said:  
"How are you feeling?"

"I'm hungry," she replied.

Cassian laughed.

"Good. That's a good sign. That means your vitals are returning to normal."

Danielle smiled.

"As good as that sounds, it doesn't make me any less hungry."

"Sorry," Cassian said:  
"I have to keep you on IV nutrition for a couple of days more. Your system is not ready for real food just yet."

Danielle leaned back.

"Then I'll just have to dream about food."

Cassian smiled.

"You do that. I'll come back and check on you later."

He touched her arm as he had done that same morning.

"Get some sleep," he whispered.

Then he left and Danielle was alone again.

Cassian watched Danielles transfer to the rehab facility from his car. He didn't have the nerve to announce himself.

He hadn't talked to Danielle in two weeks, and he was sure she was more than a little curious about news from Edward. There had been an assignment in the time that had passed, but it had only lasted a couple of days, and the rest of the time, Edward had spent at home. Michael and Kimberly had tried to convince him to visit Danielle on more than one occasion and even Cassian had made an effort to turn Edward around. But Edward was not only a brilliant and gifted virologist, he was also terribly pig headed, and nothing they had said so far had managed to win him over. He was convinced that what he was doing was the only thing to do, the right thing to do.

Cassian had driven directly from his visit at Edwards' apartment to the Mansion to see if Danielle's transfer went without problems.

As he sat there in his car, his mind wandered and he thought about Edwards' reasons for staying away from Danielle. When he thought about them in a concentrated way they didn't make any sense, but when he added Edward to the equation it all made sense.

Edward truly knew the meaning of the saying, to have loved and to have lost.

He loved his parents as every child does, and he lost them both to one of man's most dreaded enemies, the plague for which there is no cure.

Then he lost his grandfather, the only family he had left in the world, the person who had returned the boys faith in love and happiness.

Edwards way of fighting back was to become a virologist and actively fight the plagues that caused other children to grow up without parents as he himself had been forced to.

And what happened next? He lost his best friend to the same plague. Doctor Allen Covell was Edwards's partner in crime, he was his Siamese twin. The two virologists had been friends for years and it was natural for Allen to follow Edward to Africa, a trip that Edward survived and Allen didn't. Edward felt guilty; a guilt that was multiplied when he first met Kimberly and realized that she had been Allen's fiancée.

And now, when he finally fell in love for real, what happened?

The woman he thought he would spend the rest of his life with was almost killed by the same disease that had killed all the loved ones in his life. Of course he was scared, it was natural.

The Ebola had been a part of Edwards' life since he first contracted it in Zaire in 1976. He knew it like an old travel companion. But he probably never thought that it would haunt the people surrounding him in his own private sphere. He never thought the disease would be that personal after his parents died.

When Cassian thought about it that way, the Ebola almost contracted a personality.

It became a powerful evil entity that only had one goal - to rob Edward of everything good in life, rob him of any love that could come his way.

When he thought about it that way, Edwards' actions made sense. But that didn't mean he had to agree with them. He felt sorry for Edward. Even more sorry than he did for the young woman who stared out of the rear window of the car that passed him outside the fence. Her face was empty, it had no expression. They still hadn't told her anything about Edwards' decision, but her expression told him she knew. She knew all to well.

It was sometime in December that the team was assembled in Cassians office to evaluate a previous mission and Cassian pulled Edward aside when the meeting was over. He showed him a videotape.

"There's something I want you to see."

Edward looked at him.

"I haven't heard anything about a new crisis."

"It isn't about a mission."

He bid Edward to sit down and put the tape in the VCR. He made sure that Edward was watching the TV, then he pressed the play button.

Edward froze when the image appeared on the screen. It was Danielle, doing her physiotherapy at the facility they had moved her to right outside Washington D.C. She was training, walking a line between two bars fighting to get her legs to move.

"Her legs don't seem to be improving," he whispered.

Cassian shook his head.

"She's trying. She's trying harder than you'd think, but without something to fight for, she's fighting a lost battle."

Edward looked at Cassian.

"She does have something to fight for. She has her life, her friends, her daily routines."

"But that's not what she wants Edward."

He looked at him.

"Won't you please go see her?"

Edward shook his head.

"I'm not the begging kind of man Doctor Marcase."

Cassian looked at him:  
"But in this case I'll make an exception. She needs to see you."

Edward Marcase shook his head again.

"No," he whispered and got up.

"It's too dangerous."

Before Cassian could say another word Edward left the office. Michael was waiting for him outside.

"So?" he said.

Edward looked sad.

"I don't think she's ever gonna walk again. Not with the progress she's had."

"So he showed you the tape?"

"You knew about it?"

Michael nodded.

"Knew about it? I made it. We hoped it would win you over."

Edward started walking.

"Sorry you had to go through all that trouble."

He pulled out something from the inside pocket in his leatherjacket and handed it to Michael. It was a small square box wrapped in red paper.

"Would you get this to Danielle for me?"

Michael took the box.

"I would prefer if you gave it to her yourself."

He looked at Edward.

"But I guess that's not going to happen."

He looked at the box.

"Sure, I'll get it to her. Do you want me to wish her a merry Christmas as well?"

When he looked up again, Edward was gone. He had left without Michael noticing it. He looked out the window where he could see Edward hurry across the plaza. To Michael he looked like a running man. A running man without a clue as to what he was actually running from.


	6. Chapter 6

Doctor Edward Marcase was sitting in his comfortable couch in his cozy apartment staring out into the air. Cassian had somehow managed to get to the Caddy before Edward and he had forced him to take the tape of Danielle home. Edward had agreed with some reluctance.

On the drive home he had convinced himself that he didn't actually have to watch the videotape. When he entered the apartment he had no intention of watching the tape and he threw it in a box containing the tapes of all the great movies he never had time to watch. Then he walked to the kitchen and started making dinner.

When he had washed the dishes he brought his coffee with him to the other end of the living room where he dropped down in the couch and turned on the TV. He switched channels for a while, there were 54 of them and he went through them twice without finding anything worth watching.

He leaned back and enjoyed the coffee while he wondered why in the world he had so many channels when he was never home to watch them anyway – and when he finally was – nothing good was on.

He was about halfway through his coffee when the box with videotapes caught his attention. The tape with Danielle was on top of the pile. He recognized it because all the surveillance tapes from the team facilities were white as opposed to the more usual black. The bright white tape almost drew his eyes to it, in a way he couldn't really ignore. Part of him still didn't want to watch it when he inserted the tape in the VCR. He took a very deep breath, then he pushed the play button. The picture on the screen flickered for a second then it became clear. He could see Danielle. She was siting in a wheelchair being pushed by an employee of Cassians. The picture changed to the segment he had watched at Cassians office with Danielle training her legs. Then the picture disappeared and the screen turned black. Edward reached out for the remote control. He was just about to push the stop button when a picture appeared on the screen. It was clear that it was from the surveillance camera in Danielle's bedroom. She was lying in bed with her back turned to the camera. The room was lit only by the small lamp on her bedside table. He watched as Danielle suddenly sat up in bed. She pulled her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, holding on to the bed with one hand and the table with the other. She stood there for a while. Because she had her back turned to the camera, Edward couldn't see what she was doing, but he had a pretty good idea. She was trying to walk, trying to make her legs work again. And they wouldn't. She fell back in the bed and Edward saw her face. It showed an expression of pain, sorrow and utter desperation. The camera zoomed in on Danielle's face and Edward could see the tears railing down her cheeks. She was crying all her pain out. At that very moment, Edward regretted ever having left her. All he wanted in the world was to be by her side and comfort her, support her. But he couldn't. Not now. He shook his head as to get his thoughts straight. No, he said to himself. Don't regret having left her. Regret ever having met her. If I had never met her, none of this would have happened and she wouldn't be lying there in pain. He turned off the VCR and the TV and walked to the bedroom. Maybe some sleep would help him clear his head. When he turned the light on, he realized that it had been some time since he had had time to do his laundry. There was quite a big stack of clothes piling up in the armchair in the corner of the room. His eyes caught a glimpse of something shiny and he walked to the chair and pulled the fabric out from the bottom of the stack. It was Danielle's satin nightgown. She must have forgotten to pack it with the rest of her things. They did leave in a hurry, he remembered. He sat down on the floor by the foot of the bed and hid his face in the nightgown. He could smell her. The nightgown had the distinct scent of Danielle that he had already come to miss. He put his head on his arms and stayed like that, all curled up against the bed. Why did his decisions always have to hurt so much?

It was Christmas morning and Danielle had been awake most of the night. It wasn't because she was in pain or was uncomfortable. It wasn't even because she was bored – even though she was.

She was tired of being in bed, tired of being locked away from everything. The place felt surprisingly like a prison when you were bedridden. But that wasn't what had kept her up all night.

She had been thinking about Edward.

She hadn't seen him since she first started to recover. The fact that Edward had been there every time she had opened her eyes had made her stronger. It had increased her will to live, to survive.

And now that Edward wasn't there that will had diminished and all she could do was wonder why he had turned his back on her. Was it something she had done, something she had said? Or was it simply something out of her control, something that could not be changed? She had cried that night. Not so much for herself but for the love that now seemed lost forever.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door and when she turned her head, she saw Michael standing in the doorway. He smiled at her.

"Are you up to having visitors today?" he asked concerned about the look of hopelessness on her face.

"I guess so," she said in a weak voice:  
"I mean – I've had a long time to prepare – for having visitors."

Michael walked in and sat in the chair next to the bed. He put a small box on her stomach. It was wrapped in red silk paper and had a huge white bow on top.

"It's from Edward," Michael said:  
"He was sorry he couldn't come himself."

When Danielle tried to catch Michaels look she couldn't. Why? Was he lying?

"Go on," he said:  
"Open it. I'm dying to see what Edward bought you on a virologist's salary."

Danielle carefully removed the bow and opened the box. She picked up a smaller white cardboard box like the ones that used to contain jewelry in the old days before the velvet plastic boxes came into fashion. She opened the lid and removed the cotton. Then she froze. In the box, on top of the remaining cotton, lay a gold bracelet. It was clearly African inspired, maybe it was even made in Africa. When she took it out, she saw that there was something inscribed on the inside. She held the bracelet closer to her eyes to read the fine letters:

_For RM. Our love will live forever. TM._

Danielle sighed.

"Oh my God," she whispered.

"What?" Michael said.

Danielle looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"This bracelet belonged to Edwards's mother. His father gave it to her."

She took a deep breath.

"He gave me his mother's bracelet.

"There's a card," Michael said and handed it to her. Wen she opened it, she saw that only two words were written on it:

_I'm sorry._

Now she couldn't stop the tears. She had a distinct feeling that Edward hadn't meant sorry he couldn't be there himself. No, he meant something else, and although she wasn't a 100 sure of what, it scared her. Scared her and hurt her.

Michael didn't understand but he offered her his open arms and let her cry with her head on his shoulder. And when there were no more tears left to cry, she dozed of to sleep as Michael carefully tucked her in. Then he left discretely without making a sound.

Danielle was resting comfortably in her wheelchair overlooking the garden. One of the nurses overseeing her progress had wheeled her out into the Winter garden, so she could enjoy the beautiful day. It was midwinter and the trees stood naked baring their innermost secrets.

She had been sitting there for an hour or so when she heard a noise behind her. Carefully and skilled she turned the chair around and saw Doctor Cassian.

"Daniel!" she uttered and smiled:  
"It's been a while."

He nodded.

"I know – and I'm sorry. But it's been business as usual. No rest for the wicked you know."

Danielle nodded.

"Is that why Edward hasn't been to see me?"

Daniel Cassian had been prepared for the question for quite a while, and still it hit him like a rock.

He was at a loss for words and Danielle read his silence like an open book.

"It isn't is it? There's another reason?"

Cassian pulled up a chair and sat down opposite her.

"Do you want the truth?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Danielle answered.

Cassian leaned back in the chair for a second, then he leaned forward again, took her hands and held them tight.

"Edwards scared. He blames himself for what happened to you."

"Why?"

Danielle was griefstruck.

"He thinks the Dawn followed you and consequently infected you because of your involvement with him."

"Wait a minute," Danielle cut in:  
"Back up for a second. The Dawn?"

She looked questioning at Daniel. He stared back at her.

"The Dawn is a covert organization that we have had the pleasure of encountering more than once. They shy away from nothing to achieve their goals."

"I know."

Cassian looked at Danielle with confusion written all over his face.

"What do you mean you know?"

Danielle looked back at him.

"When I met Edward, I had just quit my last job. I managed an archive – for the Dawn."

Daniel Cassian leaned back in his chair, absorbing the news.

"You worked for the Dawn?"

She nodded.

"I never knew what they did, everything was so classified, I couldn't even get at it in the archives. Come to think of it I should have known sooner that there was something strange about them."

Daniel looked at her.

"Why?" he asked interested.

"Their logo. It's the biohazard symbol with a woman's face in front of it. But I never thought about it until now."

They sat there for a while without talking, looking at the garden instead.

"How much longer are you going to keep me here?"

"Actually we're not."

Cassian smiled.

"You're 98 restituted. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to resume your normal life."

Danielle laughed.

"I don't know if I would call it normal. I lost my job and I have no place to live, all of my things are in storage."

Cassian smiled back.

"I can set you up in one of our houses for a while. That's the least we can do after what you've been through."

Danielle shook her head.

"Don't get me wrong. I have enjoyed your hospitality very much. But I think it is time I stand on my own two feet again."

"Speaking of feet," Cassian said:  
"You'll have to stay in the wheelchair for a little while longer. Your legs are still weak from all the time you've spent in bed."

Danielle smiled.

"You don't say."

Cassian got up from his chair.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving now. I'll come see you off in a couple of days."

He started walking.

"Wait."

Danielle's outcry stopped him.

"What about Edward? I want to see him, to explain everything."

Cassian looked at the garden when he answered, not at Danielle.

"That could prove a tad difficult. He's in Zimbabwe."

"What?"

Danielle was stunned.

"What's he doing in Zimbabwe? Couldn't he get any further away from me?"

"It's got nothing to do with you."

Cassian walked back to her.

"We have a project in Zimbabwe and the President wanted it to go public. He chose Marcase and Shiroma to do the footwork. There was nothing I could do and it had absolutely nothing to do with you. Okay?"

He looked at Danielle.

"Okay," she whispered.

Cassian started walking again.

"I have to go now, but I'll be back to say goodbye. Now you just focus on getting well and you'll see everything will be just fine."

Danielle nodded one last time and then Cassian was gone. She turned the wheelchair around again and looked down at the snow-covered garden.

She could feel tears of anger in her eyes.

Two weeks later, there was a knock on the office door of Doctor Daniel Cassian in Washington D.C.

"Enter," he said, preoccupied by reading two files at once.

When he raised his head to see who had entered, he blinked an extra time.

"Danielle, what an unexpected pleasure."

Danielle Campbell was standing just inside the door. She was wearing a dark green shirt and black army-style pants. Her hair was put up and except for the crutches in her hands she looked like she had never been ill.

"You're walking," Cassian said.

Danielle nodded.

"Of course I'm walking. You gave me something to fight for."

Cassian looked at her with an air of surprise in his eyes.

"I thought my visit would leave you devastated."

"Then you don't know me that well," Danielle answered:  
"I fight for the things I want. I always have."

There was a brief pause then Daniel Cassian snapped back into his official role as a professional, executive physician.

"Please sit down," he said and pointed to the leather chair on the other side of his desk.

Danielle sat down in the chair and placed her crutches against the desk.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to say goodbye," he said.

Danielle shook her head.

"That's alright. I know how busy you are."

Cassian smiled at her.

"What?" Danielle said.

"You look wonderful. It's impossible to see that you almost died of the most lethal disease in the world three months ago."

Danielle returned his smile.

"I take that as a compliment. Thank you."

Cassian picked up a pen realized that he had no use for it and put it down again.

"I am very happy to see you but this isn't the best time. I have a job interview scheduled now."

Danielle reached into her backpack and pulled out some pieces of paper.

"I know," she said and handed him the papers:  
"I'm the one you're supposed to interview."

Cassian looked confused.

"How? How did you know about the job?"

She smiled.

"You have a very nice secretary. I tried to reach you when you didn't show up as you promised, and instead I talked to your secretary. We had a long talk."

Cassian still looked confused.

"I can imagine."

He looked down at the papers.

"I suppose you want me to treat you like all the other applicants?"

Danielle nodded.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Cassian leaned back and studied the papers closer. He read her application form first and then her curriculum. He took his time and Danielle leaned back meanwhile and looked around the office, observing every book title, every picture, every award.

Finally Cassian put the papers down at the desk and looked at her again. He took of his glasses and put them on the desk next to the papers.

"You do realize what kind of job you're applying for, don't you?"

Danielle nodded.

"If I didn't I wouldn't be here."

Cassian still looked at her.

"If you get the job, it means you could be exposed to infectious diseases, some of them lethal." Danielle nodded again.

"I used to be terrified of diseases and hospitals and doctors. That's changed now. I'm not just a survivor. I'm an Ebola survivor and to me that means that I have the courage to face everything."

"Alone?" Cassian asked.

"If I have to."

"But not preferably, right?"

He leaned forward and folded his hands on the desk.

"You do have another reason for wanting this job."

Danielle didn't flinch as she answered:  
"Do you really have to ask?"

Cassian leaned back again.

"To tell you the truth I think you're overqualified for the position, and as a bonus you seem to have all the necessary vaccinations covered. Unfortunately it's not my decision alone. I have a meeting at the White House tonight. All the applicants will be notified of the outcome sometime tomorrow."

Danielle reached for the crutches and got up. She smiled at Daniel Cassian.

"Thank you," she said.

Cassian smiled back.

"You haven't got the job yet."

Danielle straightened her clothes.

"I know. The thank you was for not turning me away."

With those words she left the office and Cassian to his own thoughts.

Danielle was awakened by a knock on the door. She turned to look at the clock. It was four in the morning. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and shivered from the cold. It had been colder inside the motel room than outside the entire two weeks she had been there. She put on a robe in a hurry and reached for her crutches. Someone knocked again.

"Hold your horses," she shouted and hurried to the door.

The winter cold crept in when she opened but she didn't feel it when she recognized the man outside as an employee for the US Mail.

"Sign here," he said and handed her a form.

She signed her name and the postal worker handed her a large brown envelope. Then he nodded goodbye and hurried back to his warm, comfortable car.

Danielle closed the door and returned to the bed. She looked at the envelope. It had the White House logo in the corner. She had forgotten all about the cold when she carefully opened the envelope and took out the contents.

The first paper she looked at was a formal letter. She didn't read more than the first two lines. She didn't have to.  
_Congratulations. You are our new office administrator in Zimbabwe effective immediately._

At the bottom of the paper there were two signatures, Doctor Cassians and the Presidents.

Danielle was ecstatic with happiness; her eyes were filled with tears of joy as she looked through the contract. Then she noticed a smaller envelope with the words _Good Luck _written on it. It contained a plane ticket to Zimbabwe. She looked at it an extra time before she realized that she was actually booked on a flight four hours later. She'd better start packing.

Danielle walked down the transit hall at Harare Airport. Her eyes landed on a tall African man, dressed in a safari outfit. He was holding a sign with her name on it. She smiled when she reached him.

"Hi, I'm Danielle Campbell."

He smiled back.

"I'm Jonesy. I'm here to take you to the camp."

Her lead her to the luggage conveyor belts and while they waited, she realized that he was staring at her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You use crutches," he said:  
"That won't be comfortable at the camp."

Danielle smiled.

"That won't be a problem. I've decided never to use them again after today."

Jonesy looked confused, then he lit up in a huge smile.

"It is true what Doctor Cassian told me about you."

Now it was Danielle's turn to look confused.

"You've talked to Doctor Cassian?"

"Yes, he called me and asked me to pick you up. And he gave me strict orders not to tell Doctor Edward. Why didn't he want Doctor Edward to know?"

Danielle looked at him.

"Probably because he wants Edwards anger directed at me and not at you. And trust me, he won't be happy to see me. Not at first, anyway."

Jonesy grinned.

"You love Doctor Edward don't you?"

"Yes I do," Danielle answered.

Jonesy laughed out loud as he got her luggage of the conveyor belt.

"I wish the camp was not so far away. I can't wait to see what happens."

The drive out to the camp was long, but Danielle was almost sad when it was over.

From the road, she had seen giraffes, zebras and even a pack of lions resting under a tree. It was just like the programs she used to watch on the Discovery Channel, only better.

She could smell the savanna; feel the sun on her face. It was better than she could ever have imagined.

But the trip had to come to an end and the end came when they approached the camp.

When they drove through the gate Danielle got a closer look at the structure. There was a large white building in the center of the camp, probably containing offices and hospital. Smaller wooden houses surrounded the building, the living quarters, and finally a high fence surrounded the entire compound.

"Why the fence?" she asked Jonesy.

"Lions – they get curious at night."

He parked the car outside the hospital and got out. When Danielle followed his example she heard him laugh.

"Here we go," he grinned.

She didn't understand what he was talking about; instead she concentrated on getting her crutches out from behind the front seat.

When she slammed the door, she realized why Jonesy had been laughing. Edward was staring at her from the door to the hospital. She didn't know what to say, so instead of saying anything she walked up to him and handed him a piece of paper. He read it, then he looked up at her, disbelief painted all over his face.

"You're the office administrator?"

She nodded.

"How?"

He still looked confused.

"I applied and I got the job. 'Guess I had the right qualifications."

Edward shook his head.

"You have to leave."

He handed her the paper again:  
"You can't stay."

He started walking away from her.

"I can't leave Edward," she yelled after him:  
"My contract says I have to stay with the project until you and Kimberly have finished your work."

"Then you'll just have to break your contract," he yelled with his back to her.

"Edward!" she shouted, now with anger in her voice:  
"Would you just wait a minute?"

Her angry tone made him stop but not turn around. Danielle looked at him for a second, then she handed Jonesy the crutches.

"Here you go Jonesy, I won't be needing these anymore."

He looked at her with admiration when she started to walk toward Edward. She staggered a little but then she straightened her back and walked determined again.

"Doctor Edward!"

Jonesy's outcry finally made Edward turn around and he looked at Danielle.

"What are you doing?"

She smiled.

"You've underestimated me. I don't need the crutches. Not anymore. I am fine."

She stopped in front of him.

"You have to go home," he whispered:  
"It's not safe for you here."

She looked him straight in the eyes.

"It's not safe for me anywhere. It's a cruel world we live in. But I feel safe when you're near."

Edward shook his head.

"It was my fault you got sick. It'll happen again."

"It wasn't your fault," she cut in:  
"The job I quit – it was for the Dawn. They had me targeted before we even met, you had nothing to do with it."

She followed Edwards' eyes and realized that he was staring at the bracelet on her arm, the bracelet that had belonged to his mother. She put her hands in his and caught his eyes. She smiled reassuringly.

"I'm not going to die Edward," she whispered:  
"I promise."

He blinked a couple of times and she could see that his eyes were shinier than usual. Then he put his arms around her and held her tight. The move was so sudden; it took her by surprise. She couldn't breathe; the happiness filled her body completely. She put her arms around his neck and returned his embrace.

"I'm sorry," Edward whispered in her ear.

"Don't be," Danielle answered:  
"I understand."

When he kissed her, it felt right. It was a confirmation for Danielle that all her trouble had paid off.

They let go of each other's lips when they realized that they were being applauded. The entire camp staff, including Kimberly and Jonesy was standing on the hospital front porch, clapping their hands and smiling. Edward put an arm around Danielle's shoulder and walked toward the hospital with her.

"You do realize that I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy when it comes to relationships? I want marriage, a house and children."

"Oh, you mean, basically the whole package?"

Edward laughed.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Danielle smiled.

"Then maybe it's a good thing that I'm an old-fashioned kind of girl."

Edward smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"That's definitely a good thing."

The End.


End file.
